I think there are figures out there who have baked-in distribution models — sci-fi authors are a pretty great example of those who have massive captive audiences — who don't need the benefit of distribution systems like Substack. But I want to take advantage of every possible benefit in distribution I can get my hands on. I know there ar…
I think there are figures out there who have baked-in distribution models — sci-fi authors are a pretty great example of those who have massive captive audiences — who don't need the benefit of distribution systems like Substack. But I want to take advantage of every possible benefit in distribution I can get my hands on. I know there are a lot of people (like you) who have a good news regimen, and who deliberately open emails, visit homepages, etc. (Which I love.) But lots of others are driven by recommendations and suggestions. Substack is very good at grabbing those people and, slowly, getting them to live in the Substack ecosystem. Disqus is a great tool and is good at making people sticky in their engagement habits, but, as you note, it doesn't really do recommendation or outreach.
Substack is also great at automating upsells to paid subscriptions, which I *hate* doing.
I'm always super fascinated at how other people make this business work, and I think I'm always picking up tactics and strategies here-and-there. But I remain very fond of Substack's tools.
Thank-you, but it does reach the nub of it, which is that, save for those of us fastidious, self-blinkered SS users who just go straight to BEAS and other journalists, like a kid told to not even look at the corner-dealers on their way to school through a bad neighbourhood, SS functions not just to provide the digital equivalent of a printshop, but as advertising and promotion for all customers, increasing "reach". (I trust that word is getting a new definition in dictionaries, now a term-of-art in social media.)
I've realized in recent months, for all my Mastodon promotion, urging journos to switch, that it's pointless: it's not just that Barack and Beyonce and Swift are not leaving, neither are any government departments or functionaries at all 3 levels, which really traps the journos. Why would multiple Calgary ex-aldermen and Mayors all be quoted on their tributes to recent super-alderman-of-all-time, the late Dale Hodges, were 100% on X, and the story just pasted in several X screenshots? Is Naheed Nenshi a Musk-bro?
No, of course not. Luminaries and governments and corporate PR do not use X as a chat room, have no conversations at all; X, for the already-known, is a one-way announcement platform....and the one with the greatest reach.
It's ALL about wanting maximum "reach", from Taylor to TrafficNet.ca
With paper, you had to advertise your new paper in other papers, radio, TV; now publishing and promotion are all wrapped up in one technology that does both at once.
So, it means being in business, not just with a publisher that will take nazi business, but a promoter who will advertise the nazis, find THEM new readers, the same service they sell to BEAS. A profit-making corporation with the ability to sell "reach" - to promote - will not deny themselves any customers for their service, just as M. Jordan was happy to sell sneakers to Republicans.
Rock, meet hard place. The experience of Katy Perry and Naheed Nenshi on X suggest you'll be fine, save for a few extreme purists. SS-leavers will be like vegans that won't even walk into a restaurant that has some vegan options, but where they can smell the meat cooking, see it promoted on the menu, and so won't give them a dime. A small minority.
I think there are figures out there who have baked-in distribution models — sci-fi authors are a pretty great example of those who have massive captive audiences — who don't need the benefit of distribution systems like Substack. But I want to take advantage of every possible benefit in distribution I can get my hands on. I know there are a lot of people (like you) who have a good news regimen, and who deliberately open emails, visit homepages, etc. (Which I love.) But lots of others are driven by recommendations and suggestions. Substack is very good at grabbing those people and, slowly, getting them to live in the Substack ecosystem. Disqus is a great tool and is good at making people sticky in their engagement habits, but, as you note, it doesn't really do recommendation or outreach.
Substack is also great at automating upsells to paid subscriptions, which I *hate* doing.
I'm always super fascinated at how other people make this business work, and I think I'm always picking up tactics and strategies here-and-there. But I remain very fond of Substack's tools.
Thank-you, but it does reach the nub of it, which is that, save for those of us fastidious, self-blinkered SS users who just go straight to BEAS and other journalists, like a kid told to not even look at the corner-dealers on their way to school through a bad neighbourhood, SS functions not just to provide the digital equivalent of a printshop, but as advertising and promotion for all customers, increasing "reach". (I trust that word is getting a new definition in dictionaries, now a term-of-art in social media.)
I've realized in recent months, for all my Mastodon promotion, urging journos to switch, that it's pointless: it's not just that Barack and Beyonce and Swift are not leaving, neither are any government departments or functionaries at all 3 levels, which really traps the journos. Why would multiple Calgary ex-aldermen and Mayors all be quoted on their tributes to recent super-alderman-of-all-time, the late Dale Hodges, were 100% on X, and the story just pasted in several X screenshots? Is Naheed Nenshi a Musk-bro?
No, of course not. Luminaries and governments and corporate PR do not use X as a chat room, have no conversations at all; X, for the already-known, is a one-way announcement platform....and the one with the greatest reach.
It's ALL about wanting maximum "reach", from Taylor to TrafficNet.ca
With paper, you had to advertise your new paper in other papers, radio, TV; now publishing and promotion are all wrapped up in one technology that does both at once.
So, it means being in business, not just with a publisher that will take nazi business, but a promoter who will advertise the nazis, find THEM new readers, the same service they sell to BEAS. A profit-making corporation with the ability to sell "reach" - to promote - will not deny themselves any customers for their service, just as M. Jordan was happy to sell sneakers to Republicans.
Rock, meet hard place. The experience of Katy Perry and Naheed Nenshi on X suggest you'll be fine, save for a few extreme purists. SS-leavers will be like vegans that won't even walk into a restaurant that has some vegan options, but where they can smell the meat cooking, see it promoted on the menu, and so won't give them a dime. A small minority.